Kat #1 - Part A

[Author's Notes] I attempted to write this early on but realized I had no voice for Kat. I had always seen Kat through Tristan's eyes and only very recently did I come up with some of Kat's background. I'm contemplating writing Kat's story in first person, just to vary it but I think I won't. Since I've always seen Kat through Tristan's eyes, it might be more illuminating to write this in third. I hated what I wrote earlier - all three paragraphs. Anyway, I think I've come to a close on Section One, the introduction to the main character and sub-characters, the introduction to the school itself. Section Two will be Kat's story. It'll be a lot shorter than Section One but who knows, once I get writing I might add quite a bit more. I certainly didn't expect Section One to be 9 chapters long.

The heat surrounding Rorga was stifling but Katrina loved it. She could feel streams of sweat pouring down her as she lifted up the heavy sopping cloth she was washing. Glancing over at the boys, she could see them wiltering under the heat as they practiced stances.

Damnit, why can't Papa see that I'm better than boys? Her resentment grew as she thwapped the cloth with a bamboo racket, swatting out dirt. She looked over at boys and saw that they were practicing the spread stance. It was rumored that some of the old-timers could stand like that for days and the burliest of men couldn't knock them off the stance. She had heard and seen her father countless times yelling at the boys her age, then walking up to some and with a hard blow, knock them over only to have them stand like that for another four hours.

Looking around, she confirmed that no one was paying attention to her and she stood with her feet spread apart, knees somewhat together in emulation of the boys, then swatted the heavy cloth hanging in front of her. It was harder than it looked. After a few minutes, her thighs were screaming at her to stop but she continued for an hour. When she finally unlocked her legs out of that position, she could hardly move them.

Gathering all the washings she had done, she turned to leave but felt a heavy hand drop onto her shoulder. She looked up; it was Papa.

"Well, you looked a sight, Kitten," he smirked.

Katrina shuffle her feet sheepishly, then said, "I was just copying the boys, Papa. No harm done." She looked up at her gigantic father who towered over her. Strange that both her and her brother turned out to be rather scrawny but one look at their mother told everyone where the kids got their bodies from. Her father had graying black hair, tied loosely in a ponytail. His beard where his mustache met on either side were grey, the rest was black. Since he had been coaching the youngsters, his beard was tied together in a loose knot as well to keep out of his way.

"Come on, I'll give you a ride." Without waiting for an answer, he scooped her up onto his shoulders, his arms carrying the wet cloths easily. "Well, Kitten. You know Rorga's rules. We're not allowed to teach the martial arts to the women; however, next time? Don't spread your feet so far apart."

A hug around his head that partially obstructed his view, told Oliver that his daughter understood. It was really a shame that they couldn't teach Katrina. She had been a natural athlete since she was born, unlike his son Alexandrios. He loved to tell the tale of when she had been born, she landed on all limbs, then snarled at him. An exaggeration, to be sure, but there was something different about her. That was why he had chosen the name Katrina and called her Kitten. The feline grace had been with her since birth.

Chapter 9 - Part B

Remy joined in, "First off, though we divide you up by Hand, Heart and Head, and though we will have some competition between the three groups, we expect coordination and support among the three." and Tristan nodded.

"I expect that Donna told you about the rules and regulations regarding dining?" Cece tilted her head in query and Tristan murmured a "Yes." "Good. As for duties, you've seen groups of three carrying out several tasks already, right?" And again Tristan nodded.

Agatha continued for Cece. "You've only seen a few tasks I believe, like the chandeliers and the gates. You'll find out your duties ... from Donna I dare say. I think since you two hit it off so well, we'll assign you two together, and wait to find your third."

Tristan looked down for a moment then asked, "Can Tiny be the third?"

Cece replied. "Unfortunately, apprenticeship to the smithy will devour much of his availability. To work out a schedule will take too many resources to coordinate and thus prove impedibility."

At Tristan's bewildered look, Remy explained. "Tiny will be too busy." "OH! Okay." and both Remy and Agatha chuckled. Remy dug an elbow into Cece's ribs. "Translator extraordinaire!" and Cece just muttered.

Agatha then turned serious. "Tristan, there will be some girls here who... might not appreciate your background."

Remy harrumphed at Agatha, "Hmmph! Seriously, you and Cece both need lessons in direct talk!" She turned to Tristan, "She means that some will not take kindly to sharing a classroom with a slave girl. We prefer that you resolve these issues yourself, but if you find that it affects someone else, or it affects your studies enough to be disruptive, then you may seek us for advise."

"So, there's fighting?" Tristan wondered briefly if she would need to protect Tiny. Cece spoke up with a little frown on her face. "Well, officially no. But the three of us are aware that sometimes, conflicts need to be resolved on a physical level and if we try and stop that, it may escalate beyond our abilities to help ease a resolution."

'Also," Agatha added with a twinkle in her eye. "We use a bartering system here. For example, you are on gate duty but you have extra homework. You may decide to barter services, goods, etc for someone to take your duties. Another example is," She shot a look at Cece who just muttered, "Working the lifts."

"Lifts? What are those?"

"In the other two arches, in the middle of a staircase, there is a square wooden plank with the four corners tied to a pulley system. We have three girls assigned to each 'lift' and while it's recommended that you walk up the stairs, some find - " Again, Agatha looked over at Cece "the climb somewhat harrowing. So, barters are set up between the lifters and the lifted. I find the most amazing barters at times."

A look of realization transformed Tristan's face. 'OH! Is that why Cece came out of a different stairwell?" Both Remy and Agatha rolled around in laughter and nodded at her.

Afraid to laugh, Tristan looked out at the vista and suddenly yawned. Agatha stood up and bustled Tristan up into the folds of her clothes. "C'mon you, let's find you a bed and look over those wounds. I see the one on your leg is still bleeding. If you don't watch it, you'll be confined to bed until it heals."

Tristan's eyes closed as soon as Agatha had scooped her up. The warmth from Agatha's body enveloped her in a cocoon of security that she hadn't experience since... since when? She murmured her gratitude and fell fast asleep.

Author's notes 11/28/04

[Author's Notes] Yeah, yeah I know I skipped a day yesterday. And I'm still only averaging about 2000 words a day. Which means that since today is the 27th, there is no way in hell I'll get to 50,000. Oh well, such is life. However, I am eternally grateful to Nanowrimo for starting this. If I hadn't found that site, The Three H Foundation would still only exist in my mind.

This book has been with me for the past 8 years, maybe more. There would be times when someone would be talking to me, and instead I was fighting the good fight alongside Tristan, or laughing at something Kat said, or wondering just how many Donna would bed in a lifetime. I called myself a Dreamer in high school. In some ways I still very much am. Hence the name resigned idealist.

Tristan is the best of me. She is a character drawn from Shaw Brothers movies. A hero with heart. I've been rewatching a ton of Shaw Brothers movies lately and it amazes me how much of my writing sensibilities came from those movies. The whole noble idea of sacrifice - not so noble in Western ideals, but oh in Chinese myths - the sacrificing hero is the most laudable of all. And Chinese women wonder why we stand there and take it. If the Kung-fu movies had it bad, the romantic ones had it worse. The heroines were always beaten down, sacrificing until they spat up blood and only on their death beds did all the others realize the error of their ways. I laugh now, but damn if this thought doesn't run through my head a few times a week.

I was talking to my other last night and I realized where the inspiration for Cece came from - CJ of West Wing. I can't wait to see if Agatha and Remy will talk Cece into doing the Jackal! Points to those of you who know what I'm talking about.

I reread my old chapters yesterday. TONS of continuity errors. That's what I get for not rereading the previous chapters before embarking on a new one. I've asked my other to keep track of new words I invent like Sprygo or something like that. That way, I can continue to build a new language. I need my linguistic professor friend to come back to California!

Okay, enough avoidance. Time for the show!

Chapter 9

Panting, Tristan didn't stop to enjoy the view; she found a cushion on the floor and plopped down. Cece soon emerged from a staircase huffing as well. Remy and Agatha had already found cushions to their liking and flopped onto them. Remy said gently to Tristan, "Catch your breath, then let the view take it away."

Tristan's focus edged away from her breathing to her surroundings. She was in a fairly large room, about forty by sixty feet all encased in glass. They were about eight stories up where the three arches joined together. This room was simply the large archway opened into a room.

It was oddly shaped, to accomodate the fusion of three archways. However, the scariest thing was that the floor was made of glass as well, which meant you could see straight down. Too scary, so Tristan focused instead on the mountain rising up covering up a third of the horizon. Opposite the mountain was a straight drop down to the ocean where waves crashed up in a swathe of white. Just beyond the cliffs was a small beachhead and she could spot two boats swaying with the current down there.

"You can get to the beach through the east end of the woods." Agatha had noticed where Tristan was looking.

Cece finally reached them and plopped down beside Agatha who gave her a handkerchief to wipe off the sweat. Remy spoke up. "Did you notice how many floors you walked past?"

Tristan nodded and said, "Yes, we walked past five floors, not counting the first."

Remy nodded. "Right. Each focus has two floors. Hand has the first two, then Heart, then Head. The dormitories are directly above the assembly hall. Because the arch becomes smaller at the top, the Hand dormitory only has one floor." Remy glanced at the other two and getting their approval, she continued. "You were a tough one to place. All of us saw potential in you for each discipline." Remy paused, "We all did agree though in the end, that you belonged primarily to Heart."

Tristan beamed at the prospect of learning from Agatha.

Cece took up the conversation. "However, due to what we all observed, it would be remiss of us if we did not fully explore your potential in all fields. There are already a few with what we call cross-over talents. I believe you've made the acquaintance of one such candidate - Donna. You shall join her and her companions in receiving education that transcends our normal training. It will be a harsh road, young Tristan. However, we can only see good resulting from this should you wish to try this path.

Agatha smiled, "What do you say to all this?"

Tristan grinned. "Three words - pile it on!" and she let out a whoop of delight.

The trio laughed with her and then sobered. Agatha spoke. "There are some rules and regulations."

Remy joined in, "First off, though we divide you up by Hand, Heart and Head, and though we will have some competition between the three groups, we expect coordination and support among the three." and Tristan nodded.

"I expect that Donna told you about the rules and regulations regarding dining?" Cece tilted her head in query and Tristan murmured a "Yes." "Good. As for duties, you've seen groups of three carrying out several tasks already, right?" And again Tristan nodded.

Agatha continued for Cece. "You've only seen a few tasks I believe, like the chandeliers and the gates. You'll find out your duties ... from Donna I dare say. I think since you two hit it off so well, we'll assign you two together, and wait to find your third."

Tristan looked down for a moment then asked, "Can Tiny be the third?"

Cece replied. "Unfortunately, apprenticeship to the smithy will devour much of his availability. To work out a schedule will take too many resources to coordinate and thus prove impedibility."

At Tristan's bewildered look, Remy explained. "Tiny will be too busy." "OH! Okay." and both Remy and Agatha chuckled. Remy dug an elbow into Cece's ribs. "Translator extraordinaire!" and Cece just muttered.

Agatha then turned serious. "Tristan, there will be some girls here who... might not appreciate your background."

Remy harrumphed at Agatha, "Hmmph! Seriously, you and Cece both need lessons in direct talk!" She turned to Tristan, "She means that some will not take kindly to sharing a classroom with a slave girl. We prefer that you resolve these issues yourself, but if you find that it affects someone else, or it affects your studies enough to be disruptive, then you may seek us for advise."

"So, there's fighting?" Tristan wondered briefly if she would need to protect Tiny. Cece spoke up with a little frown on her face. "Well, officially no. But the three of us are aware that sometimes, conflicts need to be resolved on a physical level and if we try and stop that, it may escalate beyond our abilities to help ease a resolution."

'Also," Agatha added with a twinkle in her eye. "We use a bartering system here. For example, you are on gate duty but you have extra homework. You may decide to barter services, goods, etc for someone to take your duties. Another example is," She shot a look at Cece who just muttered, "Working the lifts."

"Lifts? What are those?"

"In the other two arches, in the middle of a staircase, there is a square wooden plank with the four corners tied to a pulley system. We have three girls assigned to each 'lift' and while it's recommended that you walk up the stairs, some find - " Again, Agatha looked over at Cece "the climb somewhat harrowing. So, barters are set up between the lifters and the lifted. I find the most amazing barters at times."

A look of realization transformed Tristan's face. 'OH! Is that why Cece came out of a different stairwell?" Both Remy and Agatha rolled around in laughter and nodded at her.

Afraid to laugh, Tristan looked out at the vista and suddenly yawned. Agatha stood up and bustled Tristan up into the folds of her clothes. "C'mon you, let's find you a bed and look over those wounds. I see the one on your leg is still bleeding. If you don't watch it, you'll be confined to bed until it heals."

Tristan's eyes closed as soon as Agatha had scooped her up. The warmth from Agatha's body enveloped her in a cocoon of security that she hadn't experience since... since when? She murmured her gratitude and fell fast asleep.